Curt Menefee didn’t have a traditional start to his career in sports media, beginning his college career as a history major, but through hard work, dedication and several internships, he found his way to becoming the host of the NFL on Fox.
Menefee brought stories of early opportunities, learning and experience to the students on Tuesday evening in Ranger Hall when he joined the final edition of “The Pros & the Pie” of the semester over Zoom.
Menefee broke down the details of how he shaped his career and what steps he took for him to get to where he wanted to be. The central theme Menefee conveyed to students was to never doubt yourself.
“I tried to get better and better at what I did every day,” Menefee said. “This allowed me to be ready for the opportunities when they did come.”
Menefee worked in several different places across the country before landing at Fox. He has worked in Iowa, Washington, D.C., Jacksonville and New York. Menefee was able to find his connection with Fox in New York, and his career began to take off from there.
The biggest part of Menefee being ready for Fox was his preparation at all his prior jobs.
“You don’t just show up at the major leagues one day and hit,” Menefee said. “You need the minor league to make your mistakes, strike out, to hit a curveball. Playing in smaller markets allowed me to do those kinds of things.”
Menefee was introduced by P. T. Navarro ’91, who is a long-time producer at Fox and a good friend of Menefee’s.
Navarro shared insights about his relationship with Menefee and how he is an inspiration to so many young students trying to carve their path in sports.
“We have had a lot of fun memories working together over the years,” Navarro said. “For those of you that want to be on the air, there is no better example and success story in American sports television than Curt Menefee.”
One of the other main points Menefee mentioned was self-evaluation. He spoke about how being your biggest critic is so important to you finding success.
“By watching, you catch yourself making mistakes,” Menefee said. “But if you don’t watch yourself, people are never going to tell you that. People don’t want to hurt your feelings, and they don’t want to get down to the weeds with you.”
Menefee mentioned several memorable stories from his time at Fox, but there was one story that stood out the most to not only Menefee but the entire crew over at Fox: the moment Jimmy Johnson was informed he was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I think that in the 33 years of Fox Sports, that is the number one moment in the history of our network,” Menefee said. “I can’t think of another moment in the history of Fox Sports and maybe of live sports television because it is genuine raw emotion, and it shows how much we care about each other.”
Menefee brought so much wisdom to The Pro’s & the Pie that was beneficial to students in attendance.
“I thought it was interesting that Curt was a history major in college,” URI student Matt Clements said. “He truly had to do the networking inside of [sports broadcasting]. I think it is really impressive that he had pure skill, and he knew what he was doing. I liked how he mentioned to stay confident in yourself and not let anyone boss you around.”
The Pros & the Pie is wrapped up for the semester, but the speaker series is set to return in the fall from Ranger Hall.
